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Islam and politics --- Middle East --- Politics and government --- Islam and politics - Middle East --- Middle East - Politics and government - 1945 --- -Islam and politics - Middle East --- -Islam and politics

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As the world focuses on the conflict in Iraq, the most important political players in that country today are not the Sunni insurgents. Instead, they are Iraq's Shi'I majority--part of the Middle East's ninety million Shi'I Muslims who hold the key to the future of the region and the relations between Muslim and Western societies. So contends Yitzhak Nakash, one of the world's foremost experts on Shi'ism. With his characteristic verve and style, Nakash traces the role of the Shi'is in the struggle that is raging today among Muslims for the soul of Islam. He shows that in contrast to the growing militancy among Sunni groups since the 1990's, Shi'is have shifted their focus from confrontation to accommodation with the West. Constituting sixty percent of the population of Iraq, they stand squarely at the center of the U.S government's attempt to remake the Middle East and bring democracy to the region. This groundbreaking book addresses the crucial importance of Shi'is to the U.S. endeavor. Yet it also alerts readers to the strong nationalist sentiments of Shi'is, underscoring the difficult challenge that the United States faces in attempting to impose a new order in the Middle East. The book provides a comprehensive historical perspective on Shi'ism, beginning with the emergence of the movement during the seventh century, continuing through its rise as a political force since the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1978-79, and leading up to the Iraqi elections of January 2005. Drawing extensively on Arabic sources, this comparative study highlights the reciprocal influences shaping the political development of Shi'is in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Lebanon, as well as the impact of the revival of Shi'ism on the larger Arab world. The narrative concludes with an assessment of the risks and possibilities arising from the assertion of Shi'I power in Iraq and from America's attempt to play an increasingly forceful role in the Middle East. A landmark book and a work of remarkable scholarship, Reaching for Power illuminates the Shi'a resurgence amid the shifting geopolitics of the Middle East.

Islam and politics -- Middle East. --- Islam. --- Politics. --- Shiites -- Middle East. --- Shiites --- Islam and politics

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""... [Will] have an impact on two important fields of scholarship: social movement theory and the study of Islamic activist movements."" -- John Voll, Georgetown UniversityThis volume represents the first comprehensive attempt to incorporate the study of Islamic activism into social movement theory. It argues that the dynamics, processes, and organization of Islamic activism can be understood as important elements of contention that transcend the specificity of ""Islam"" as a system of meaning

Social movements. --- Social movements - Arab countries --- Social movements - Middle East --- Islam and politics - Arab countries --- Islam and politics - Middle East --- Social movements --- Islam and politics

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Islamic fundamentalism --- Islam and politics --- Persian Gulf War, 1991 --- History --- Religious aspects --- Islam --- Islam. --- Middle East --- 20th century --- Islamic fundamentalism - Middle East - History - 20th century.. --- Islam and politics - Middle East. --- Persian Gulf War, 1991 - Religious aspects - Islam. --- Islamic fundamentalism - Middle East - History - 20th century. --- Islam and politics - Middle East --- Persian Gulf War, 1991 - Religious aspects - Islam

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This book investigates the manner in which American foreign policy in Iraq artificially shifted the balance of power in the region and brought religious identities to the foreground. Deposing Saddam Hussein resulted in a new regional order that diminished the strength of secular nationalism, elevated Iran and Saudi Arabia as regional rivals, and, by implication, established a new ideological paradigm that privileged competing religious factions over secular ideals. The trend first manifested itself in Iraq during the American occupation with Iranian-backed Shiites fighting Saudi-supported Sunnis. A similar dynamic is evident in current regional wars in Syria and Yemen. By elevating particular groups through rhetorical, financial, and military support, civil conflicts in the Middle East reflect the ideologies behind the Saudi-Iranian rivalry. This book therefore looks beyond popular narratives of intractable, long-standing Sunni-Shia conflict to explain the source of current sectarian tension as a product of balance of power dynamics. It also helps to explain the fracturing of the region that created a ripe environment for groups like the Islamic State to capitalize on sectarian grievances. This book relies and builds on balance of power theorizing by looking at the way that traditional competition for power between state and nonstate actors shapes ideological competition. For example, during the Cold War, the two major world powers - the United States and the Soviet Union - helped to shape international conflicts so that the narrative of 'capitalism versus communism' played a prominent role in civil and international conflicts, such as in Korea, Nicaragua, or Angola. By meddling in the internal affairs of states, arming rebel groups, and lending support to competing factions, the United States and the USSR shaped not only outcomes, but also the ideas underpinning conflicts. Today, a similar dynamic can be discerned in the Middle East.

USA--FOREIGN RELATIONS--IRAQ --- IRAQ--FOREIGN RELATIONS--USA --- USA--FOREIGN RELATIONS--MIDDLE EAST --- MIDDLE EAST--FOREIGN RELATIONS--USA --- ISLAM AND POLITICS--MIDDLE EAST --- SECULARISM--MIDDLE EAST --- MIDDLE EAST--FOREIGN RELATIONS